A Little Bit Tart, A Little Bit Sweet

Guest Review: Barefoot in the Sand by Roxanne St. Claire

As you can see we’ve got another guest review today! It’s Barbie’s first time reviewing and she’s really nervous, so show her some love please! Also, she’s so cute – she wrote her own back cover copy/book blurb because she felt that fit the book better. So that’s why there are “two” of them.)

(Barbie’s Book Blurb)
When a hurricane literally sweeps away the life Lacey Armstrong had always known, she has two choices: keep making excuses and holding herself back, or start anew and finally daring and going forward to realizing her dreams. Having lost everything she held dear, except for the single most important thing in her life – her teenage daughter, Ashley – and realizing none of the material things mattered at all, Lacey starts a journey to make a new life for herself and her daughter, to build her dream of having a bed and breakfast.

That’s when Clay Walker, a young, sexy architect comes into her life and sees in her land a great project opportunity to build a beautiful resort on the beach. The chemistry between Lacey and Clay is real and instant, and, in the process of helping Lacey rebuild her life, Clay ends up doing some life-building of his own.

I have to start by confessing I was surprised by how I just I absolutely loved Barefoot in the Sand,even though Roxanne St. Claire ventures from romantic suspense (which is my preferred genre), to contemporary romance. With a new beach setting! Having been a fan of the author for a long time and devoured all her thrilling books, I was a bit afraid this one was going to have a slower tempo and the lack of crimes, chases, and general action was going to put me off, so, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he tempo isn’t slow at all. The characters are well developed and very real and there’s more action involved at building a resort and getting a happily ever than one would think.

Lacey is a single mother of a teenager, and their relationship is what you would expect: full of love, spats, loving words, secrets and eye rolling. All the decisions she’s made in her life, since she’s become a mother, have been about what’s best for Ashley, and, in this book, she goes through a process of self-discovery, as her daughter is growing, figuring out that it’s just about time she thought of herself, too. It makes her very… human. With the loss of her house, she sees the opportunity of finally making her dreams come true, but she needs to get rid of the excuses she’s always made and stop letting fear paralyze her. I think that makes her very relatable, as she tries to balance the reason and emotion and move forward with her life. The best thing about Lacey is just this, that is very, very real.

She doesn’t go through this process alone, though. As soon as they hear Lacey’s in trouble, her very best friends in the world, Jocelyn, Zoe and Tessa, catch the very first plane to Florida to be by her side during the hard time. And, OhMyGosh, how much FUN they are. Again, the biggest thing about them is how real they are to me. They have their own personalities: be it cracking the sex jokes, being private and collected, not liking secrets… that they could be any of us girls out there. At the same time that they’re brilliant, unique and I want them to jump off the book and become my best friends.

I couldn’t help but fall in love Clay at first sight. He’s not just funny, smart and sexy, he’s also caring, he has a sense of justice, the spirit of a fighter that won’t give up. Neither when it comes to building a big resort in the beach of Mimosa Key, nor when it comes to being with the woman he loves. As he helps Lacey overcome her fears of love and intimacy, he realizes he needs to take down his own emotional walls before he can open up for love himself. The romance is well paced – it doesn’t happen too slow nor too fast – the conflict is well timed with the development of the book and, overall, I think every aspect of it was very well done. Clay grows a lot during the book, he starts out boyish, and grows into a fine man. I think he and Lacey grow together.

Honestly, I don’t have a single thing bad thing to say about the book. Maybe, I wish there were more scenes with the girls – Jocelyn, Zoe and Tessa – I think they’re fun and brilliant and give the book a lot of life. But the book can’t be 800 pages long. Overall, though, it’s a great, great book!

I admit, I was never much of a fan of contemporary romance. I’m a big fan of romantic suspense and I didn’t think books could be much fun without blood and guts and dead bodies in it. But, Barefoot in the Sand showed me a book can be just as great even without the gore. So, I recommend it to everyone.

Grade: A+

Publisher’s Back Cover Copy

When all you hold dear is taken away . . .

When a hurricane roars through Lacey Armstrong’s home on the coast of Barefoot Bay, she decides all that remains in the rubble is opportunity. A new hotel is just what Mimosa Key needs, and Lacey and her teenage daughter are due for a fresh start. And nothing, especially not a hot, younger architect, is going to distract Lacey from finally making her dreams a reality.

A second chance is the only thing you have left.

Love has already cost Clay Walker everything. And if he’s going to have any chance of picking up the pieces of his life, he needs the job as Lacey Armstrong’s architect. What’s not in the plans is falling for the headstrong beauty. Her vision of the future is more appealing than anything he could have ever drafted for himself. Will Clay’s designs on Lacey’s heart be more than she can handle, or will she trust him to build something that will last forever?

Aww, thank you, Mary!!! I *did* indeed LOVE the book! It’s been my favorite read of the year! I really want everyone to read so we can have a big book club and we can talk about it! Wouldn’t it be grand? :)

B! What a great review. You were the one who turned me on to Roxanne in the first place so I will definitely be checking out this book. Doesn’t hurt that she lives an hour and a half south of me ;) so I know the area well.